They say it only takes one. The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk girls soccer team proved them right. Wednesday night, Mid-Prairie opened the Class 1A regional playoffs with a hard-fought win over visiting Central Lee 1-0 in Wellman. The lone goal on the night came early in the first half when Zoey Curtiss beat the Central Lee defense to give the Golden Hawks the advantage. The goal was her seventh of the year. From there, the Mid-Prairie defense took over. The group collectively kept Central Lee threats to a minimum and the Hawks off the board to make sure the Curtiss strike stood up and help the Golden Hawks advance. After the game, Mid-Prairie defenders Lydia Beachy, Evangeline Marner, Emily Curtiss, Kyla Karnes, Meadow Flynn, Morgan Nafziger and keeper Niva Helmuth talked with KCII Sports about their lockdown day.

Beachy said, “We’ve been working on keeping a tight defense. Not stepping hard but keeping in front of the person with the ball.”

Marner continued, “It’s always the first five minutes after a goal where you need to stay locked in, make sure you’re focused in  keeping the defense because anything can happen. The other team has motivation to come right back at us.”

Helmuth said, “I would say yes, there’s definitely more pressure (tonight). We just stayed really sharp, really focused, kept our heads in the game and that helped us a lot.”

Karnes finished with, “Our communication was really good. We stayed compact and talked well.”

Helmuth recorded the clean sheet for Mid-Prairie, the first of her career, going the distance on the back line. The shut out is the seventh of the year for the Golden Hawks. Mid-Prairie is now 11-6 and will travel to Van Meter Tuesday for a Region 3 semifinal contest with the top seeded, 10-3 Bulldogs, who were a 10-0 victor over Centerville Wednesday.